Parliamentary questions

2692. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide a month-by-month breakdown of agency staffing expenditure within HSE services for the years 2024 and 2025 and for the period to date in 2026 [23861/26]

2693. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Health to review the refusal of the request for additional disability support hours in the case of a person (details supplied). [23862/26]

2694. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to set out the current national governance structure for gender-related assessment and referral pathways for minors; and to specify the body or office that holds ultimate clinical and policy accountability at national level. [23872/26]

2695. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to detail the specific datasets currently collected by the Department or the HSE in respect of gender-related referrals of minors, including referral numbers, assessment outcomes, approvals, and any associated costs; and to confirm whether these datasets are complete at national level. [23873/26]

2696. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the safeguarding, clinical governance, and oversight mechanisms currently in place for gender-related assessment and referral of minors, pending the development of the new model of care referenced by the HSE. [23874/26]

2697. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to confirm whether any audit, review, or evaluation has been conducted since 2020 into gender-related assessment, referral, or treatment pathways for minors; and if so, to provide the dates, scope, and key findings of such reviews. [23875/26]

2698. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to specify the clinical guidelines, protocols, or international standards currently relied upon by the HSE or clinicians in the absence of a finalised national model of care for gender-related services for minors. [23876/26]

2699. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Health if she has had any engagement with healthcare workers suffering from long-Covid regarding accessing financial supports; if she will declare Covid-19 an occupational illness, as has been done in many other European Union member states, so that healthcare workers suffering from long-Covid can continue to access financial supports; and if she w…

2700. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to confirm whether, as of today, there is any single national database recording referrals, assessments, treatments, outcomes and costs for minors accessing gender-related healthcare pathways; and if not, when such a system will be operational. [23878/26]

2701. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to specify the mandatory clinical assessment criteria currently required before any referral or treatment of a minor presenting with gender-related distress, including whether psychiatric assessment, developmental history, autism screening and differential diagnosis are required. [23879/26]

2702. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the governance and audit structures currently in place to monitor clinical decision-making, patient outcomes and safeguarding compliance in respect of minors referred for gender-related healthcare. [23880/26]

2703. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what interim safeguards are in place pending the completion of the proposed national model of care in 2026. [23881/26]

2704. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that the absence of a national policy, standardised definitions, and centralised data collection in respect of elective procedures without clear medical indication represents a failure of governance and oversight within the public health system. [23884/26]

2705. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the specific steps she will take to introduce a national policy framework governing the authorisation, funding, and clinical governance of such procedures. [23885/26]

2706. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to confirm whether her Department requires the HSE to collect, report, and publish data on the allocation of theatre capacity to procedures which cannot currently be categorised as medically necessary. [23886/26]

2707. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to detail the mechanisms in place, if any, to ensure consistency of decision-making across the six health regions in the absence of national policy. [23887/26]

2708. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline how she satisfies herself that public resources are being allocated appropriately where the State cannot currently define, measure, or audit such activity. [23888/26]

2709. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Health if her attention has been drawn to three schools (details supplied) that have been without hot school meals since June 2025; if she will ensure the EHO conducts a return inspection on these schools immediately, to allow hot meals to return; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23892/26]

2710. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department maintains a national policy or framework governing the inspection, reporting, and oversight of environmental, hygiene, ventilation, and patient-safety conditions in oncology treatment facilities within the public health system; if so, the statutory or administrative basis for such a framework, the bodies responsible for …

2711. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to specify the categories of data, reports, or metrics her Department requires from the HSE or other bodies in relation to environmental conditions, infection prevention, ventilation adequacy, and patient safety in oncology treatment settings; to confirm whether such data is collected on a standardised national basis and reported to her Depart…

2712. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance structures through which her Department satisfies itself that consistent environmental, hygiene, and patient-safety standards are applied across all public oncology treatment facilities; to detail the roles and responsibilities of her Department, the HSE, and any other relevant bodies in establishing, monitoring, and enforcing s…

2713. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to detail the audit, inspection, or compliance mechanisms currently in place to assess adherence to environmental, hygiene, ventilation, and patient-safety standards in oncology treatment facilities; to specify whether such audits are conducted on a routine, risk-based, or ad hoc basis; to confirm whether the findings of such audits are report…

2714. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted any review or assessment of the adequacy of current governance, inspection, and reporting arrangements in respect of environmental and patient-safety conditions in oncology treatment facilities; if so, to provide details of such reviews, including findings, recommendations, and implementation status; if not…

2715. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the financial control framework governing expenditure under the treatment abroad scheme, including any cost ceilings, per-patient expenditure thresholds, or approval limits that apply to high-cost treatments funded outside the State; to specify the administrative or managerial grade within the HSE or Department required to approve such expendi…

2716. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to detail the audit and review mechanisms in place to assess expenditure under the treatment abroad scheme, including the frequency of internal audit, any involvement of the Comptroller and Auditor General, and whether any programme-level evaluations have been conducted since 2020; and to outline how value for money is assessed in circumstance…